The Poet’s Proclamation

May darkness and black gloom claim it; may a cloud settle on it; may the blackness of the day terrify it.  Job 3:5 NASB

Black gloom – ṣalmāwet.  An unusual Hebrew word.  A terrifying word.  Not just deep shadow but rather “the shadow of death.”

צַלְמָוֶת (ṣalmāwet). Deep darkness. (ASV prefers “the shadow of death” and also has “thick darkness,” “thick gloom”; RSV prefers “deep darkness” and also has “gloom.”) Some treat it as a combination of ṣalāmu “be dark” (Akkadian, also Arabic) plus ût as an abstract ending. Most versions understand it as combination of “shadow” and “death.” D. W. Thomas accepts the latter, but convincingly argues that mût possesses superlative force: “very deep shadow,” “thick darkness.” M. Dahood agrees, vocalizing it ṣal-mawet and citing other compound nouns in Ugaritic (Psalms I, AB, p. 147). It describes the darkness of eyelids tired from weeping (Job 16:16), the thick darkness present in a mine shaft (Job 28:3), the darkness of the abode of the dead (Job 10:21f.; 38:17), and the darkness prior to creation (Amos 5:8). Emotionally it describes the internal anguish of one who has rebelled against God (Ps 107:10–14; cf. 44:19f. [H 20f.]). Thus it is the strongest word in Hebrew for darkness.^[1]

Life in the cave.  A few weeks ago I was in Harrison’s cave in Barbados.  Two hundred feet below ground in a tunnel half a mile long, the guide asked us to turn off all our phones and all the lights, but “don’t move.”  Of course, it was totally black.  Sight was absolutely useless.  A world where anything could happen because there was no way of protecting yourself.  ṣalmāwet, the specter of death.  When Job describes his desire for the eradication of his birthday, he uses a word that is riddled with death.  It’s not just ḥōšek, that circumstance of chaos and confusion.  It’s also ṣalmāwet, living death, total terror, complete vulnerability, utter loss of direction.

And the poet answers.

גַּ֚ם כִּֽי־אֵלֵ֨ךְ בְּגֵ֪יא צַלְמָ֡וֶת לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֚א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י שִׁבְטְךָ֥ וּ֜מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ הֵ֣מָּה יְנַֽחֲמֻֽנִי

There’s the same word (in red).  Do you know the verse?  I’m sure you do, so here it is in English:

Even though I walk through the ^[c]valley of the shadow of death, I fear no ^[d]evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  Psalm 23:4  NASB

David doesn’t say that God will prevent us from walking in that valley.  He doesn’t say we will always be healthy, wealthy, and wise.  He says that even though we walk in ṣalmāwet, God is with us.  This is the only promise—and the only one that really matters.

Topical Index: ṣalmāwet, deep darkness, death, Psalm 23:4, Job 3:5

AB Anchor Bible (cited by author and book)

^[1] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 1921 צָלַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 767). Moody Press.